Drew Dowdell

I don't believe for a second that "VW could bring the Polo here tomorrow" yet they haven't. VW has HUGE ambitions for their sales numbers and they won't leave a model on the shelf that would pass U.S. regs.

add it to the garage!

A couple of days ago, Toyota unveiled pictures of the production Toyota 86 ahead of the Tokyo Auto Show. Today, a bunch of Toyota 86 test drive videos have surfaced.

This car will be sold in Japan as the Toyota 86, in Europe as the Toyota GT-86, and in the US as the Scion FRS. Subaru will get a version called the BRZ that will be Subaru's first car offered without AWD in over a decade.

The JDM Toyota 86 features a new 2.0 litre flat four producing 197 horsepower and 151 ft-lb of torque while running premium gas. The very low center of gravity, 53:47 weight distribution, and limited slip rear differential should make for an excellent handling little 2+2.

But lets head over to Fuji speedway to see what we can see.

http://youtu.be/0Jr-iYAtpWM

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GM avoids calling the volt a hybrid because it really isn't. It is an EV with a built in regenerator. Being an EV first kind of negates the need to call it a plug-in.

Hmmm a worthy contender for the C&G Limo service!

The batteries in the volt are segmented as well. It's just that the Tesla batteries were quite literally designed for laptops.

Yes, that hotwheels one is it... .though I thought the wheels were different.

anyway, if you spot one, snag it for me and I'll pay you for it.

Mild Hybrid is a hybrid where there is a small amount of assist added to the gas engine torque to help move things along. If the car is moving, the gas engine is running. The Malibu Hybrid and Civic Hybrid fall under this catagory.

Full hybrid like the Pruis the electric motor and gasoline engine work in tandem while the transmission blends the power from each source. Sometimes the car can be moving on just one or the other, but rotational motion is provided independently and blended later as needed. The "plug-in" aspect just means that the car gets a much bigger battery for longer electric operation and greater amounts of regeneration able to be captured in storage for later.

The Volt isn't a hybrid in this sense because rotational motion is never "blended" Except in one specific driving condition, your forward motion is always coming from the electric motor even if the gasoline engine is running. GM found out that above 70mph, if the battery is dead, the engine and generator spin at about the same RPM, so for efficiency reasons, it was better to lock them together. That is the only situation where the Volt can be considered a hybrid. Drop below 70mph or recharge the battery a bit (from a long downhill run) and the connection will be broken and you will be back to electric only propulsion.

When you are in your Volt with a fully charged battery, you can accelerate at full throttle all the way up to 100mph and never use a lick of gasoline. It is purely an electric vehicle at this point.

In the Plug-In-Pruis, above 45 mph, the gasoline engine kicks on regardless of battery status because the electric motor alone is not powerful enough to propel the car above that speed without assistance from the gas motor.

I need that Bravadalanche Bravadamino El Bravado 1987 REO Bravadagon

It is certainly more muscular, but I'm not sure it has lost the "chick car" status.

If anyone out there has or spots a bustle back Seville (I don't know if it was HW or MB) please consider snagging it for me if it is a reasonable price. I had one as a kid and have no idea what happened to it. It was silver an burgandy two tone.

I like that SDV.

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nice offer... but I don't think many people will take them up on it.

Good move by GM though. Enhances goodwill.

What do you think of the "Pages" tab now?

2014 seems awfull soon to see a new Cruze.

GM has been on 4 to 5 year model cycle lately.

Malibu 2004-2007, 2008 - 2011

Cobalt 2005-2009 (technically a limited run of 2010 coupes as well)

Aveo 2007 - 2010

The Cruze started hitting dealers in Sept of '10 as a MY'11, so a refresh for 2014 as a MY'15 doesn't seem out of line.

we will be doing a Passat interactive review starting 12/08

This could be for the next generation Cruze.

No, I don't really see a connection.

my first thought too was the airbrake (being less than 3 miles from the original Westinghouse works)

direct AND port injected?

agreed, the optima looks almost Audi-ish

the S-Class is not at the level of Bentley and Rolls.

Well they sorta did a Cab-over economy car with the VW Bus and Corvair van thing

I'm not that big of a snob on interior materials, but you can feel the difference in the interiors of these.

I thought it had HHR quality's W/O the retro design cue's.

see, I thought it was the natural successor to the HHR because it still has a touch of retro to it.

On the Tear Drop camper I helped my best friend build his this year & if I say so myself it's beautiful. We built it between Kemo & Radiation treatments so he could focus on the positives in his life.

I've got a pix but the forum won't let me use facebook format I have a jpg but dont have any hosting plan any ideas?

You can just attach the photo to the post using "more reply options"